Generation of energy from natural sources, such as sun and wind, has been an important objective in this country over the last several decades. Attempts to reduce reliance on oil, such as from foreign sources, have become an important national issue. Energy experts fear that some of these resources, including oil, gas and coal, may someday run out. Because of these concerns, many projects have been initiated in an attempt to harness energy derived from what are called natural “alternative” sources.
While solar power may be the most widely known natural source, there is also the potential for harnessing tremendous energy from the wind. Wind farms, for example, have been built in many areas of the country where the wind naturally blows. In many of these applications, a large number of windmills are built and “aimed” toward the wind. As the wind blows against the windmills, rotational power is created and then used to drive generators, which in turn, can generate electricity. This energy is often used to supplement energy produced by utility power plants.
One drawback to using wind as an energy source, however, is that the wind does not always blow, and even if it does, it does not always blow at the same speed, i.e., it is not always reliable. The wind also does not blow consistently throughout different times of the day, week, month and seasons of the year, i.e., it is not always predictable. While attempts have been made in the past to store energy produced by wind so that it can be used during peak demand periods, and when little or no wind is blowing, these past systems have failed to be implemented in a reliable and consistent manner. Past attempts have not been able to reduce the inefficiencies and difficulties inherent in using wind as a source for energy on a continuous and uninterrupted basis.
Most populated areas of the country have adequate electrical power generating and back-up systems, such as those provided by local utility companies, and distributed by large electrical power grids. Except for those few instances where a power outage might occur, i.e., due to a line break or mechanical equipment failure, etc., most people in this country have come to expect their electrical power to always be available.
In some remote areas of the country, however, electrical power is not always readily available, and efforts must be made to obtain the needed power. People that live high up in the mountains, or in areas that are remote from the nearest electrical power grid, for example, often have difficulty obtaining power. The cost of running overhead or underground cables from the nearest electrical power grid to service these types of remote locations can be prohibitively high, and, to make matters worse, these costs must often be incurred by the users, i.e., where the land is privately owned, and public utility companies have no obligation to service those locations. Moreover, even if power lines are connected to these distant locations, the power that travels through the lines can be diminished by the time it reaches its destination.
Notwithstanding these problems, because wind is a significant natural resource that will never run out, and is often in abundance in these remote locations, there is a desire to try to develop a system that can not only harness the power generated by wind to provide electrical power, but to do so in a coordinated manner, to enable wind energy to be supplied to remote locations on a continuous and uninterrupted basis, i.e., as a primary energy source, using means for storing the wind energy in an effective manner so that it can be used during peak demand periods, and when little or no wind is available.